Video- Making, shaping and installing solid linings

So Here is my method for making and installing solid linings. I'm using mahogany but anything of a decent density will work well- walnut, rosewood etc. You can of course use spruce but woods of a higher density are a better choice.

The "Pete" I mention a few times here is Pete Howlett form the UK. He does good videos but not on Youtube, only (i think?) on Facebook. We are mates and I had the pleasure of him visiting me in 2016 for his Winston Churchill Traveling Fellowship research.www.petehowlettukulele.com

Towards the end I mention "The Scottish Luthier"- He is the fab fellow Rory Dowling of Taran Guitars- Do you think I could remember his name while filming..... I really should have given him high praise for his pre gluing trick at the beginning of the video but was to busy trying to remember things to say.https://www.taranguitars.co.uk/

Also, John Bogdanovich's excellent classical guitar making book (for an amazing price of about $30) has another method for doing this- that book is worth getting for the price whatever instrument you build.

Safest way to rout those linings is to 'back' the outside with a female mold. Wish I could explain it better but watching this gave the willies!

Friday Lunchtime Lecture is at www.facebook.com/artisanukulelemaker 13.00 BST. So about 7am US time. This week it's about this baloney of sharpening your tools using the so called 'scary sharpening' method and that strange thing with the ruler trick... I don't buy it!

Safest way to rout those linings is to 'back' the outside with a female mold. Wish I could explain it better but watching this gave the willies!
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I get what you mean- good idea- ill use a stop next time- I'm taking only a tiny bit off so this is about as safe as routing by hand gets (which is still unsafe!- but i usually use two clips to hold it)
Scary sharp is with sand paper and glass right???- i've not used that method.

This is a robust reply to Beau's video and quite honestly a little slap on the wrist. We have exchanged emails privately about this so he knows it's coming. Joking aside - safety using power tools is at the top of my teaching agenda. So here is my take on routing solid linings:

And in an ideal world I would have used two clamps to hold my small temporary table router onto the bench instead of the vice which gripped the aluminium safely but not ideally. I needed to do this to clear the wood. This setup is used for very small items and a clamp either side of the table usually secures it to a bench top.

As someone who has been using laminated lining for a while, Beau's original video and Pete's follow up are of interest to me. Looks as though I'll now be changing the way I do this. Useful info like this is why I visit the forum every day!

Pete's way to route the bevel is great.
This use of the lining laminating mold is in the Bogdanovich book that I mentioned (everyone should buy it at $30) but i don't use it as my side thickness is always a bit different so the best way to get your linings to fit the actually instrument they are going on is to use the actual instrument and the mold.

The lam mold would be close enough in shape to use as a routing jig which ill do for safety from now on (i guess with a few tabs of double side tape)

I don't use solid linings (I did at one time) so I shouldn't but in. But if I did I'd probably go about it differently. I'd do my routing before bending or even cutting into strips. I'd take a board of the appropriate length and height and rout and rout the edges on both sides of the board. I'd repeat until I had all the linings I needed. Then I'd rip the strips to the desired thickness and pass them through the drum sander and then bend them. (Up to a couple of dozen strips can be run through the drum sander at the same time if first backed with a couple of strips of tape. This is how I make my bindings.) Of course this wouldn't work with laminated linings but solid linings of 1/8" thick made of basswood or Spanish cedar can easily be bent. Just a thought that I think would save some time.

Laminating provides the 'stiffness' that Beau is looking for. If I'm correct, it's all about driving the energy to the top only isn't it Beau?

Yes Pete
Super stiff sides and solid linings made from high density woods (walnut, mahogany etc) add to less energy being lost from the top down the sides etc- it bounces back into the top.
It can be proven scientifically bte- its not snake oil. Read the Gilet/Gore book.

Chuck- Solid linings from made from soft woods could certainly be bent at 1/8" but I use 2 ply high density wood for the advantages mentioned above, which aren't found in low density woods.